1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of automatic vending equipment, and particularly to vending equipment which is designed to sell and deliver differently priced articles.
2. The Description of the Prior Art
A substantial industry has arisen relating to the automated vending of articles in individualized transactions. Such vending machines, in addition to dispensing food articles, also dispense small objects of merchandise, stamps, and more broadly include apparatus used as automatic bank tellers for dispensing cash.
One such apparatus is shown by Skillman, "Article Vending System," U.S. Pat. No. 2,663,398, which describes a vending machine which shows a machine used to accumulate the price of a number of differently priced articles before the selected articles are delivered. The vending machine totals up the value of articles selected, gives the user a running total. The vending apparatus releases the selected articles after the user puts in coins which coincide or exceed the machine calculated value of the collection of selected articles. Skillman's apparatus is capable of allowing different calculations for differently selected combinations of fixed-priced articles. However, the apparatus of Skillman does not provide any means capable of reading an arbitrary package price and then dispensing the package to the user after insertion of the appropriate amount of consideration. A set of fixed prices is assumed.
Schuller, et al., "Vendor Control Circuit," U.S. Pat. No. 4,231,105, shows a vending control circuit which uses a microprocessor to maintain the calculated amount of previously selected articles. The value of chosen articles or combination of articles is also displayed for the user's information. However, Schuller is limited by his failure to provide any means which is capable of reading an arbitrary price corresponding to each of the selected articles.
Shigemori, et al., "Automatic Money Dispenser," U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,579, is a cash vending machine controlled by a central processing unit. Shigemori provides a system which is capable of individual transactions and includes a memory register used for storing consideration dispensing data. The user inputs a particular transaction from which he needs a certain amount of cash returned. The central processing unit then identifies the checks necessary for the transaction and dispenses a predetermined amount of consideration to an automatic consideration dispenser. Again, Shigemori is limited by failing to show a system which actually reads an arbitrary package price and then dispenses the package for the appropriate amount of consideration input by the user.
Frubacker, "Computerized Vending Machine," U.S. Pat. No. 4,225,056, also shows a computerized vending system which allows for the dispensation of a plurality of different products. The microcomputer contained within this system compares the price of a selected product with accumulated credit which the user has established. However, Frubacker does not show any means for accommodating articles with individualized and arbitrary prices.
Riddle, "Programmed Multiple Stamp Dispensing Apparatus Employing Optical Electronic Stamp Counting And Auxillary Stamp Roll Capacity," U.S. Pat. No. 3,621,964, is a programmed multiple stamp dispensing system including a counting circuit which generates an output corresponding to the number of stamps requested by the user. Although Riddle's apparatus is capable of operating in a large number of arbitrarily varied transactions, it is still limited by its failure to provide for any individuality of pricing of the articles which are assumed to be priced at the fixed postage rates and stored accordingly. In other words, varied transactions can be executed but only when articles are dispensed according to a categorized storage relating to a fixed number of uniform prices.
What is needed then, is a vending device capable of compactly storing and dispensing articles which have an arbitrary price corresponding to each article in such a manner that the articles need not be prearranged or stored within the dispensing apparatus in any predetermined pattern or arrangement, or be labeled or fixed at any predetermined price or group of prices.